No Way Out (1987 film)

No Way Out
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Roger Donaldson
Produced by	Robert Garland Laura Ziskin
Screenplay by	Robert Garland
Based on	The Big Clock  by Kenneth Fearing
Starring	Kevin Costner Gene Hackman Sean Young
Music by	Maurice Jarre
Cinematography	John Alcott
Edited by	William Hoy Neil Travis
Distributed by	Orion Pictures
Release dates	August 14, 1987 (1987-08-14)
Running time	114 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$15 million
Box office	$35,509,515

No Way Out is a 1987 thriller film. It stars Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman, and Sean Young. Will Patton, Howard Duff, George Dzundza, Jason Bernard, Fred Thompson, and Iman appear in supporting roles.

The film is a remake of 1948's The Big Clock. Both films are based on Kenneth Fearing's 1946 novel The Big Clock. Filming locations included Baltimore, Annapolis, Arlington, Washington, D.C., and Auckland, New Zealand. The film features original music by Academy Award-winning composer Maurice Jarre.

Plot

At an inaugural ball, US Navy Lieutenant Commander Tom Farrell meets a woman, Susan Atwell, and they begin an affair, although she is involved with another man. Later, Farrell begins to work at the Pentagon for the US Secretary of Defense, David Brice.

Soon, Farrell learns that the other man in Susan's life is Brice, who in turn learns of Susan's infidelity. While demanding the name of her lover, Brice accidentally kills her in a jealous rage. Ready to turn himself in, Brice is persuaded by his General Counsel, Scott Pritchard, to cover it up and blame it on someone else. They concoct a story that Susan's other lover was a suspected but unconfirmed KGB sleeper agent code-named "Yuri."

Brice appoints Farrell to lead the investigation to find Susan's other lover, placing him in the position of seeking evidence that could implicate himself. Farrell sets about proving Brice was involved with Susan by searching computer files for evidence that Brice gave her a government-registered gift he received from the Moroccan foreign minister. Farrell presents the gift-registry printout to Brice, who shifts the blame to Pritchard, arguing that Pritchard (a gay man) was jealous of his relationship with Susan. A devastated Pritchard commits suicide and is falsely exposed as "Yuri" to the Pentagon police by Brice, hoping to avoid blame for Susan's death.

As the film draws to its conclusion, it is revealed that Farrell is the real "Yuri" and was the KGB's mole in the Department of Defense. Aware of Brice's affair, the Soviet Union had assigned Yuri to seduce his mistress and gather intelligence from her. Farrell tells his Soviet contacts that he is finished being a KGB agent after the tragic events he has been through, but they tell each other after he leaves the KGB safehouse that "he'll be back, he has nowhere else to go".

Cast

Release

Box office

The film debuted at number 2 at the box office after Stakeout.^[1] The film's budget was an estimated $15 million; its total U.S. gross was over $35 million.^[2]

Critical reception

The film was very well received by critics and as of July 30, 2013, holds a 92% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 38 reviews.^[3]

Roger Ebert gave the film 4 out of 4 stars, calling it "truly labyrinthine and ingenious."^[4] Richard Schickel of Time wrote, "Viewers who arrive at the movie five minutes late and leave five minutes early will avoid the setup and payoff for the preposterous twist that spoils this lively, intelligent remake of 1948's The Big Clock."^[5] Desson Thomson of The Washington Post wrote, "The film makes such good use of Washington and builds suspense so well that it transcends a plot bordering on ridiculous."^[6]

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: No Way Out (1987 film)

• Official website
• No Way Out at the Internet Movie Database
• No Way Out at Box Office Mojo
• No Way Out at Rotten Tomatoes